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Dear Reader:
There is a lot of illness this time of
year. Isn’t it interesting how that the fall and the spring seem to be the time
when people get sick. I am convinced it is the stress of the change in the
seasons. In the fall, the day cycle is shortened and in the spring, it is
lengthened. There are usually dramatic fluctuations in temperature and weather.
The distress then increases vulnerability to disease.
But this is a rather recent realization on
my part. I can’t completely prove it, (though there is plenty of scientific
evidence) I just think things are too coincidental to blame it on any other
cause.
Disease seems to be nothing more than our
inability to cope with some kind of stress. We thus become vulnerable to
infections much like cattle that are shipped are vulnerable to shipping fever
and other diseases. People who travel across time zones likewise become
vulnerable to diseases and plants raised on nutrient-depleted soils succumb more
easily to pests and weed competition.
As I said, however, this is not the way I
used to think and is not the way the majority still think. For example, the
other day one of our co-workers was home ill and called in to say they would not
be able to make it that day. I overheard the person answering the phone express
concern and ask if they had gone to the doctor yet.
This is a conditioned reaction of minds that
are used to seeing problems as something to be solved by others. In other
words, if you are ill, your machinery is broken by being “struck” by a disease.
We think, therefore, that we need to go somewhere for expert repair.
But we are not “struck” with disease. We
simply become the fertile soil for it to flourish within. Cancer or heart
disease or arthritis or even infectious disease does not simply lurk around in
our society waiting to “strike” some unfortunate soul. Serious organ disease
such as that which can occur in the liver or the kidney or the lungs or the
immune system begins small and undetected only to manifest itself after the
majority of the reserve of the organ has been lost. A large percentage of the
kidney and liver, for example, can be destroyed with little evidence of outward
disease because of the ability of the body to compensate. When the outward
symptoms of the disease finally appear, we have not been “struck” with the
disease. The disease has been smoldering or our resistance declining for a long
time and it is likely something we are responsible for directly.
If we wait until we have the symptoms of
illness to attempt repair or to make the appropriate alterations, we are late.
This is not to say that many times remarkable things can not be done, but simply
to point out that disease as it is manifest in illness and clinical symptoms is
the end product of a pattern of improper living. Obviously the time to do
something about disease is before symptoms ever appear.
True, it is difficult to work at fixing what
doesn’t seem to be broken. But this is a situation of pay now or pay dearly
later. If we are not right now doing something to create health, we are causing
disease.
Refer back to the “Empowerment” tape and
listen to it as often as you have to to fully grasp the concepts of prevention
and implement them into your life. Prevention is such an incredibly worthy
pursuit. The dysfunction, pain, inconvenience, and economic damage from
disease so dwarfs the relatively small requirements to build health, that it is
insanity not to pursue health now.
Everyone should spend some time in a cancer
ward, nursing home, and surgical theater watching chests get sawed in half and
organs eviscerated for, say, a bypass operation. If this doesn’t spark some
interest in prevention (most everything is preventable) then pray for a brain
transplant.
PAs Review subscribers, I’m convinced you
are unique. A report from a recent marketing convention of several hundred
health publishing attendees quoted a speaker, “People don’t buy prevention, they
buy cures.” This advice came from tested marketing programs and he was trying
to get the audience to understand that if they wanted to make money, they better
focus on cure information, not prevention.
So you are an exception. You’re brighter
than the masses who simply ignore wisdom believing that their health insurance
actually is redeemable at a hospital.
Fish Out Of Water
It is normal for us to measure our world by
the limits of our own knowledge and experience. If the only tool you have is a
hammer, you tend to treat everything like nails. Bigotry, bias, and prejudice
are all words which describe this limited view each of us tends to embrace.
The world we understand is only that world we see.
A dog does not comprehend poetry, nor does
an infant calculus. The world of the dog and of the child is extremely limited
in scope. For the dog it is predominately genetically determined. Even if a
dog would like to understand poetry, it couldn’t. On the other hand, a child’s
view of the world can expand continually throughout lifetime. But,
unfortunately, as we get into our teenage years and become certain that our
knowledge encompasses just about all that could be known and certainly more than
both parents combined, we become increasingly arrogant, and with this arrogance,
closed minded. Intellectual growth can actually stop by about the age of 13,
with vocabulary serving as an index of this growth and not increasing
significantly for most people after this age.
With that as a preface, let me say that it
is easy for us to believe that the world we were born into is the only real
world. Fluorescent lights, conditioned air, automobiles, pop, French fries,
television, and polyester may seem like the only real and natural world for
humans. Without the perspective of history, there would be no way of knowing
any different.
But we do have history and history tells us
something entirely different. As I have mentioned repeatedly in the Review,
we are dramatically out of our genetic context. Prior to the Industrial
Revolution, which occurred about 200 years ago, we were by and large in an
entirely different setting spending the majority of our time outside and without
any of the modern conveniences and technologies that we have come to believe to
be as natural as a tree or the wind.
Our genes, however, are not equally
convinced. They remain encoded for the natural world. They are, in fact, an
inward definition of the natural preindustrial more pristine world.
We, therefore, in this new modern synthetic
world which we have come to believe to be normal and natural, are increasingly
alienating our basic biological make up. We are like fish that have been taken
out of water.
The Center for Science in the Public
Interest has created a variety of charts chronicling American eating habits from
1910 to 1980. These charts reproduced below will demonstrate the dramatic
change that is occurring just in the last 100 years.
These graphs are only a small representation
of the dramatic changes our modern world has caused related to food. Other
areas of change reflect the fact that now, unlike anytime in past human history,
human activity rivals the natural processes that have built the biosphere.
About 40% of the earth’s photosynthetic capacity (plant growth) is now
appropriated for human use; the biologically available nitrogen and phosphorus
used by humans for fertilizer and chemicals about equals the amount produced by
nature; we apparently can alter our atmosphere on a global scale (ozone,
chernoble, greenhouse gases); huge numbers of species stand on the curling tip
of a wave of extinction — and the list goes on. And I’ll continue to hammer
this point because we, yes you and I now, not collective humanity through time,
must act.
Though it seems presumptuous to suggest that
we here, now in this generation are unique in all of history, the evidence
supports that we are. We are a pivotal generation than can either turn things
around or continue to fuel a degrading environmental health spiral that soon, if
unaltered by us, will continue in spite of any efforts we make to change
things.
Scary? Yes, indeed. But we need to get
scared if thsat’s what it takes to wake up. We are, without a doubt, a very
special generation with the weight of the world’s future literally on our
shoulders.
Don’t despair, however, you as a single
person can do much. Everything ever done always began with one. Act on the
things you know to be right, healthy, socially responsible, and environmentally
sensitive.
We’ll give you lots of good ideas in the
Review. But armed with your own understanding of the Review philosophy (see
“Empowerment” tape) you can take control and make a huge difference using your
own initiative, as well.
High Rise Syndrome
High Rise Syndrome in dogs and cats is
characterized by a specific pattern of traumatic lesions including limb
fractures, traumatic luxations, dental and hard palate fractures, and thoracic
trauma including pneumo thorax (air-filled chest cavity).
In two separate studies, 81 dogs and 132
cats were diagnosed with this condition falling from distances ranging from 1 to
32 stories. The average fall was 5.5 stories. Amazingly all but one of the
dogs survived and 90% of the treated cats survived.
Free falls are the most common cause of
traumatic death in children under the age of 15 years with it accounting for
more than 13,000 deaths annually in the United States. For a human, any fall
over 6 stories to a hard surface is fatal.
The reason for the differences in survival
between the species is related to the Newtonian equation F = ma. The F, force
at impact, is directly related to the m, mass of the object. Humans, of greater
mass, therefore, are going to sustain more damage. Another reason for the
differences is that humans tend to land vertically on their feet whereas animals
tend to land horizontally thus dissipating some of the acceleration as a result
of greater body surface area creating wind resistance.
For animals, many of them jump voluntarily.
Some fall by turning on a narrow ledge, others fall by jumping for an insect.
Some just simply jump out the window. For humans, most falls for children are
accidental whereas suicide is the highest cause for fall in the 22 to 40 year
old age group.
By recognizing that High Rise Syndrome can
occur to pets and humans we can be more aware of the danger and take appropriate
steps toward preventing catastrophe.
Reference:
JAVMA, Jan. 1, 1993: 118
JAVMA, Dec. 1, 1987: 1399-
Enjoying Pain
The normal reaction to pain is to try to
escape it. It would seem that if we could think about our delightful walk on a
beach last summer, or a joke you heard by a friend, or a problem you face at the
office that this would help divert us from the pain.
A study reported in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, however, argues a paradoxical alternate
strategy. The scientists conclude that it is better to bravely monitor the
sensations of pain concentrating on their location, quality, and intensity.
By attempting to distract yourself and avoid the sensation, pain may actually be
prolonged.
By carefully monitoring the pain, we develop
a sense of mental control over the painful event by focussing attention on the
sensations rather than on the “pain.” This makes it easier to be able to detect
any diminishing of the pain. On the other hand, attempting to suppress the pain
or make yourself distracted, undermines this mental control since you are not
really fooling yourself. Thus the pain will ultimately feel worse and be
prolonged.
Will some of you try this for me, please. I
am going to keep thinking about badminton strategy, beauty pageants, and war
Florida sand when in agony until you let me know otherwise.
Reference:
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, Feb. 1993
Science News, March 6, 1993: 156
Who Are We?
With over 44 years of copywriting, Victor
Schwab faced the daily dilemma of who is the public. Most of his work involved
writing copy for advertising. To sell something requires that the writer pull
the appropriate responsive cords. But to do this you must know the public mind
intimately.
The marketplace has a way of sorting through
the abstract and the theoretical. If you are not reaching your audience, you
will know it because you starve to death.
Mr. Schwab’s experience has resulted in his
shedding his original idealistic concepts of human nature. His assessment of
what the mind of the masses really is is uncomplimentary and sobering, but as
you think about it, it is probably true.
Listed below is what he believes the general
trend of the times shows people have a preference for:
Success instead of Integrity
Spending instead of Saving
Restlessness instead of Rest
Self-Indulgence instead of Self-Discipline
Desire for the New or Novel instead of
Affection for the Old and Tried
Show instead of Solidity
Dependence instead of Self-Reliance
Gregariousness instead of Solitude
Luxury instead of Simplicity
Ostentation instead of Restraint
Easy Generosity instead of Wise Giving
Quick Impressions instead of Careful Thought
There is wisdom here. This helps us to
understand ourselves better and certainly others as well.
It is kind of an entropy thing. Everything
eventually gravitates to its most probable lowest energy, most comfortable
level. Although the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which encompasses entropy,
speaks of physical events, it apparently applies to us humans as well. We are
lazy and self-serving. We struggle to be otherwise, but there is that constant
pressure backwards.
By understanding these weaknesses and by
learning and using our intellect, however, we can overcome to a degree these
entropic tendencies and hopefully rise to a better level of existence.
The Eye-Mouth Gap
In all classes of individuals studied,
including people of normal weight, athletes, the elderly, and the obese, there
is a disparity between what is eaten and what is believed to be eaten. This has
been called the “eye-mouth gap.”
A study from the obesity research center at
Columbia University followed food intake and energy expenditure in 224 obese
individuals who had experienced diet resistance. These individuals had come to
believe that the reason for the failure of diets to be effective was due to some
kind of metabolic or genetic disorder. Some had dieted at least 20 different
times attempting programs limiting caloric intake to 1,200 kilocalories or less
per day.
Participants in the study were followed by
scientific assessment and then these results were compared to the diaries kept
by the volunteers. The results showed that the true amounts of food and
exercise were not registered in the diaries. It is important to note here that
the amounts omitted from the diaries were not even registered in the subject’s
consciousness.
This means that under-reporting of both food
consumed and exercise is likely the cause of failure to succeed for most obese
individuals on various low calorie diet programs. It is also important here to
note, however, that this under-reporting is not a conscious deception but is
rather an “eye-mouth gap.” Thus the conclusion cannot be reached that obese
individuals are as such because of gluttony or sloth or a lack of character.
This is true because even non obese individuals underestimate caloric intake.
The “eye-mouth gap” is evidently an
affliction that is particularly prevalent in the obese since underreporting by
the obese is greater than underestimates by lean individuals, athletes and the
elderly although these latter groups will also underreport. Women are also more
likely to underestimate their intake than are men. But women are more likely to
be obese on a five to one ratio compared to men.
Knowledge is the beginning of
understanding. Obese individuals who are convinced that their problem is
something must resign themselves to reexamine the situation based on this very
objective study. This is not to suggest that obesity is equally attainable in
all individuals. No one seeks obesity. It occurs spontaneously. Thus for
some individuals there is a psychological predisposition, a susceptibility if
you will, that results in the “eye-mouth gap.”
Obesity is a complex phenomenon. It is
intricately linked with the genetic time warp we find ourselves in. Our genes
expect us to live in a natural, outdoor setting eating fresh, whole, natural
foods and expending considerable energy to obtain them. But we find ourselves
in something entirely different. This is the ultimate cause of many diseases
including obesity.
Reference:
Wysong Review tapes issue __ and
__
The Synorgon Diet - Acheiving Healthy
Weight In A World Of Excess.
New England Journal of Medicine, Dec.
31,1992: 1893-, 1947-
Blacktopping The Earth
Though most of us are aware of the rapid
deforestation that is occurring within the rain forest, it is a surprise to
learn that this deforestation is not much different than that which has occurred
in North America over the past century and a half. As human populations expand,
governments promote exploitation of natural resources and the colonization of
frontier zones. The result is that virgin forests are being wastefully
timbered, or converted into pastures and crop land that lasts only a few years
before the soil is exhausted. Inaccessible wild areas are being developed for
petroleum and mineral deposits. To encourage development, governments push
roads into wild interior areas with the view that such lands are simply going to
waste. Much of the push is a result of these “undeveloped” lands believing that
they are missing out on something. They want to achieve the standard of living
that “developed” countries have.
Little do they know that such development
comes at a price to health and to the environment. The photos reproduced below
represent, on the left, the Trans Amazonian highway shortly after it was
completed in Brazil, on the right is a satellite view of the same area years
later. The cross hatch marks are roads that have split off from the main
highway leading to parceling out of land and subsequent deforestation.
(by line for picture) From Diversity and the
Tropical Rain Forest, Scientific American Library, 1992.
It is not long before the year 2005 when, at
the present rate, we will have reached the point of no return for the tropical
rain forest according to projections by some environmental organizations. A
dramatic change in attitude is going to be required to reverse the constant
depletion of Earth’s natural wild areas. It can begin with you and I doing all
we can to support programs which can both save the Earth’s lungs and at the same
time provide intelligent solutions to purgeoning population growth.
Reference:
Environmental/deforesting problems:
Sierra Club, 408 C Street NE,
Washington, DC, 20002
The Nature Conservatory, 1815 North Lynn
Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006-2596
The Rainforest Preservation Foundation,
PO Box 820308, Fort Worth, TX, 76182
Contact the following organizations for
information on the population problem:
International Planned Parenthood
Federation – Western Hemisphere, 902 Broadway, NY, NY, 10010
Pathfinder Fund, 9 Galen Street,
Watertown, MA, 02172
Zero Population Growth, 1400 16th
Street, Suite 320, Washington, DC, 20036
Indoor Pollution
Up until now, environment toxins have been
viewed as only occurring out of doors as a result of what is billowing out of
the neighborhood factory chimney.
New evidence, however, is demonstrating that
a whole host of materials we are exposed to within our homes are potentially
toxic and in a constant state of dynamic interaction. For example, volatile
organic compounds such as benzene and formaldehyde are released from a variety
of building materials and glues used in construction materials.
A new study has demonstrated that in areas
where outside pollution is higher, resulting in increased ozone levels, that
this ozone as it permeates the home can increase the emission of carcinogens
such as formaldehyde by as much as three fold and acetaldehyde by as much as 20
times. These chemicals were being released from nylon carpets and vacuum
sweepers.
What we cocoon ourselves in, within our own
homes, will be receiving increasing attention as it is discovered that we are
living in very dangerous chemical outgasing home environments. Be sure to keep
fresh air ventilating into the home. If outside pollution is high, then indoor
air cleaners should be used. Install a central vacuum which exits air to the
outside rather than recirculating it. Additionally, it has been found that
house plants can decrease indoor pollution. Contact the following resources to
find out how you can obtain air cleaners and various building materials which
are more environmentally safe and non toxic.
Reference:
Science News, Dec. 1992: 420
New England Journal of Medicine, Dec.
31, 1992, pg. 1893 - ;1947 -
House Plants Filter Indoor Air
Pollutants
NASA scientists have recently identified a
number of house plants that will reduce indoor air pollutants such as
formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene.
Formaldehyde, released by numerous household
products including carpets, permanent press fabrics, and foam insulation, can be
filtered by Philodendron (Philodendron spp.), Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum),
Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum), Bamboo Palm (Rhapis excelsea), Corn Plant
(Dracaena fragrans cv. ‘Massangeama’), Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum spp.), and
Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (Dieffenbachia).
Benzenes, released from gasoline, oils,
plastics, detergents, and the like, and trichloroethylenes, commonly used in dry
cleaning, inks, paints, and adhesives, can be controlled in the home or office
environment with English Ivy (Hedera helix), Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.),
and several other plants.
Reference:
HerbalGram No. 24, 1919:39
How to be free of sinus disease
During the change of seasons, particularly
in the fall and spring, rhinitis (nasal infection and congestion) and sinusitis
plague hundreds of thousands.
The sinuses are essentially caverns in our
skull bones that are connected by passages to the nasal area. The major sinuses
are the frontal located just above the eyes and the maxillary located in the
cheek bones to the sides of the nose. Let me strongly warn against the use of
the 200 odd medications in pill, drop, or spray form used to clear the sinuses
and stop congestion. They all have potentially serious side effects and many
can be addicting making the mucous tissues within these areas dependent on the
medication in order to allow you to breathe at all. There is even a wonderful
big name for this dependent condition, rhinitis medicamentosun.
Aside from doing the things we discuss in
the Review to keep yourself as healthy as possible on an ongoing basis,
here are some specific things you can do for sinusitis-rhinitis. An herbal tea
you might try that is beneficial is Breathe Easy. It contains a variety of
herbs. One even has ephedrine activity. Eight cups a day mixed with honey and
lemon can be very helpful. Ephedrine is a common component of pharmaceutical
decongestants.
Hot compresses applied above and below the
eyes will also help bring healing circulation to the area and encourage the flow
of mucous, lymph and bacteria from the area.
Do not blow the nose with force. And do not
blow it by covering one nostril. Often a protracted sinus infection can be
alleviated simply by stopping the nose blowing, or if blowing the nose, doing it
gently without covering either nostril.
The Grossan, a nasal irrigation device, can
be hooked up to a Water Pic. This device simply snaps into the existing handle
of a Water Pic and a solution of salt (1 teaspoon per 800 cc. in the reservoir)
is pulsed into the nostril at the lowest setting until the fluid moves up and
around the back of the nose and out the other nostril.
I know it sounds like enough to put you into
orbit, but it can be done and it is not as uncomfortable as it would seem.
Some even argue that at the first sign of rhinitis caused by viruses which seem
to proliferate in the cold, that irrigating the nose with as hot of water as can
be tolerated will quickly kill the virus and stop the progress of the disease.
This Grossan irrigation device is available
from Hydro Med Incorporated, P. O. Box 91273, World Way Postal Center, Los
Angeles, CA 90009. It costs $15.95 and comes with a small booklet on treating
sinus disease.
We would also recommend that the salt used
in the irrigation solution be either the Whole Salt or the Celtic Salt that is
additive-free available through the Wysong Healthy Alternatives Store
1-800-748-0233. A few drops of food grade hydrogen peroxide can be put in with
the solution to help as a disinfectant. Food grade hydrogen peroxide is also
available from the Healthy Alternatives Store.
Other obvious things, of course, are stay
warm, take prolonged hot baths, get extra rest, eat lots of fresh fruit and
vegetables, and supplement with the antioxidant nutrients (beta carotene, A, C,
E). A food-source chewable form of this combination is also available from the
store.
Honey for wounds
The journal infection reported unprocessed
honey is highly effective to combat bacterial and fungal wound infections. It
also speeds new cell growth at the margins of wounds and thus speeds healing.
Only unprocessed honey worked.
Reference:
Lancet, Jan. 9, 1993: 90
Yogurt for candidal vaginas
Yogurt containing active lactobacillus
acidophilus cultures was found effective in a study of 33 patients with vulvo
vaginal candidal infections. Daily ingestion of 8 ounces of yogurt in patients
with a history of recurrent vaginitis resulted in a decrease in both candidal
colonization and infection.
Not all yogurt contains active cultures.
Additionally, not all yogurt contains lactobacillus acidophilus cultures. Read
the labels. You may also mix active cultures from lactobacillus acidophilus
capsules into yogurt to assure viability. These capsules are available in the
refrigerated sections of most health food stores or contact the Wysong Healthy
Alternative Store. 1-800-748-0233. Other sources Solgar at 1-800-645-2246,
Rainbow Light at 1-800-635-1233 and American Health at 1-800-635-1233.
Protecting your assets and securing
your future
particularly with longer life - is going to
be an increasing challenge. Social Security is not secure and savings accounts
earning 3% interest in banks - which may fail at any time - is not particularly
settling either (Wysong Review vol. 7 no. 4). Contact the Benham Group
at 1-800-321-8321 for alternative savings plans. Their GNMA Income Fund earns
over 7%.
Protecting your assets and securing your
future - particularly with longer life - is going to be an increasing
challenge. Social Security is not secure and savings accounts earning 3%
interest in banks - which may fail at any time - is not particularly settling
either (Wysong Review vol. 7 no. 4). Contact the Benham Group at
1-800-321-8321 for alternative savings plans. Their GNMA Income Fund earns over
7%.
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